Funding for robotics team provides students with opportunities

With additional funding, the Amarillo Area Center for Advanced Learning Center, AACAL, Robotics Team is able to compete in more than one regional event.

More competitions exposes the students to over $10 million in scholarships.

"We are the future, and everything we do is going to impact our future. Every action has consequences and every action," said Tyson Ortiz, a junior at Tascosa High School. "And because of that, we learn how to react to problems, how to adapt to situations, and how to creatively solve our own problems. And I think that's really important, and it's impacted my life heavily."

Through the robotics program, the students are learning all aspects of the STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields.

The students are able to apply these skills not only to now but even beyond high school.

"The donation from Bell Helicopter will basically pay for our robot this year, which is a huge deal for us," said Hannah Chapman, a junior at Bushland High School. "We're just high school students. Amarillo ISD gives us a little bit of money, but this is completely funded off of us, and our sponsors mean the world to us because without them we wouldn't be able to travel and get to these competitions and get this real life experience you aren't able to get anywhere else."

"To know that the people I've looked up to my whole life inspire us and want us to do this is amazing," said Ortiz.

The program is 100 percent student-ran. Teachers are only there to facilitate safety and keep the students on track.